Los Angeles, Feb 27 (IANS): Michel Hazanavicius' French silent black and white film "The Artist" won him a best directing Oscar here.
The movie, set in 1927, is about a silent movie star George Valentin who fears whether the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion.
It pipped other nominees in the category -- Alexander Payne ("The Descendants"), Martin Scorsese ("Hugo"), Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris") and Terrence Malick ("The Tree Of Life").